Angelina Jolie, Co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) and Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) meet Lieutenant Commander Marcia Andrade Braga, Brazilian naval officer serving with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award recipient today at the UN Headquarters in New York before her speech at the General Assembly.Photo: Luiz Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire

Angelina Jolie, Co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) and Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):

Delivering a keynote address to the General Assembly ministerial meeting on United Nations peacekeeping, actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian, Angelina Jolie, today March 29 2019 asked for the perspective of women to be taken into consideration in peace negotiations.

Jolie, who is a Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI), said, “women and girls are still the majority of the victims of war. They are over half of all refugees, and the vast majority of the victims of rape and other sexual and gender-based violence.”

“As you discuss how to strengthen UN peacekeepers and give peacekeepers the capabilities they need to operate in today’s dangerous environments, I ask that you to take time to consider this question from the perspective of women. Around the world there are countless examples of women rising, taking leadership, taking their destiny into their own hands, inspiring us all. But women and girls are still the majority of the victims of war. They are over half of all refugees, and the vast majority of the victims of rape and other sexual and gender-based violence.”

“Fearing abuse at the hands of a peacekeeper is not protection. Living with the fear your daughter might be raped by armed combatants, is not safety. Knowing that if your children are harmed, no one will be held accountable, is not a basis for peace and security. Denying half a population representation in peace negotiations or in government is not the route to long-term stability.”

“Women are already contributing to peace in theatres of war across the world without recognition or glory, because it comes naturally to them. It’s important to them. Think how much more we could achieve with women’s equal participation in all aspects of society: not at the expense of men, but alongside men. Because we are all partners in this life.”

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